Department for Transport

High Speed 2 Line: Apprentices

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has a target for the number of apprentices working on the HS2 project.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many apprenticeships have been secured as part of the HS2 project.

Huw Merriman: The HS2 programme has recruited over 1,100 apprentices since 2017, over halfway to its target of creating 2,000 apprenticeships over the course of the programme.

Aviation: EU Law

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 on establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/91, what plans he has to review the compensation provisions contained in those regulations; and if he will make it his policy to ensure that any new legislative proposals brought forward on air passenger rights have a primary objective of providing a high level of consumer protection.

Jesse Norman: The Government is committed to protecting the rights of passengers when travelling by air.Last year the Department consulted on a range of aviation consumer issues, including ways in which compensation available for delayed domestic UK flights could be amended. Its consultation also looked at other ways to bolster air passenger rights and support the industry to provide the best service possible, including how consumers’ rights are enforced.The Department is reviewing all the responses received and will set out next steps shortly.

EU Working Groups: Motor Vehicles

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Trade and Cooperation Agreement working group for the automotive industry will be established.

Mr Richard Holden: The UK has repeatedly outlined to the EU the importance of establishing and convening the sectoral working group on motor vehicles and parts under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, including in the most recent meeting of the Trade Specialised Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade held on 24 October 2022; however, no date for the first meeting of the working group has yet been agreed.

British Transport Police: Staff

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what is the British Transport Police's target number of police officer employees for 2023; how many police officers were employed by the British Transport Police (a) as of 3 February 2023 and (b) in each of the last five years.

Huw Merriman: The British Transport Police (BTP) currently have 204 police officer vacancies to fill. The last headcount data for BTP is from December 2022 when the number of BTP officers was 3183. The below table shows the number of BTP officers from April 2017 to April 2022:DateNumber of officersApril 20172931April 20183118April 20193110April 20203179April 20213125April 20223175

Railway Stations

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to support multi-modal interchanges at railway stations.

Huw Merriman: The Government is committed to improving integration between rail and other modes of transport to improve journeys for passengers. The long-term cycling and walking plan of July 2020 set out 33 actions to increase cycling and walking, including improving cycle rail integration and improving bike access on trains. Between 2012 and 2022, the Government provided over £40m to create new secure bike spaces at train stations. The Government’s National Bus Strategy, ‘Bus Back Better’, sets out our goal for improving integration between buses and other modes of transport. Our ambitions include seeing more bus routes serving railway stations and better integration between buses and trains on both timing of services and ticketing.

Department for Transport: Contracts

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what was the total (a) value and (b) number of grants and funding awarded via competitive bidding processes by his Department in each of the last four years; and how many competitive bidding applications have been received by the Department in each of the last four years.

Jesse Norman: The following table provides the value and number of funding awarded via a competitive process in each of the last four years.Financial yearNumber of competed grantsValue of competed grants per FY20/2122£1,655,030,538.1219/2029£979,104,358.0018/1922£565,290,692.0017/1849£872,135,115.34 At present, the Department does not have a single internal system that captures the details of all competitive bidding applications received by the Department in each of the last four years.

Air Routes: India

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will commission an independent assessment of the potential economic benefits to (a) Greater Manchester and (b) the North West of the introduction of direct flights between Manchester airport and key Indian airports.

Jesse Norman: The Government has no plans to commission an independent assessment of the benefits of direct flights between Manchester and airports in India, or any other location.

Department for Transport: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement spending over £500 for August 2022, for how many (a) individuals and (b) nights was accommodation purchased at the Regina Hotel on 29 August 2022; and what conference were those individuals attending.

Jesse Norman: a) Two individuals attended the 71st European Civil Aviation Conference b) 3 nights were booked at the Regina Hotel

Bicycles: Electric Vehicles

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take legislative steps to limit (a) the speed and (b) road access for e-bikes.

Jesse Norman: The Department has no current plans for legislation to limit speed or road access for e-cycles further. The Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle Regulations 1983, as amended, set legal requirements for Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles (EAPCs), otherwise known as e-cycles, including a requirement that electrical assistance must cut-off when the vehicle reaches 15.5 mph. An EAPC can legally be ridden at higher speeds but without assistance from the electric motor. For traffic management purposes, EAPCs are treated in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 as a type of pedal cycle, and may use facilities such as cycle lanes and tracks as well as the road.

Cycling

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of increasing Government investment in the (a) cycling and (b) e-bike manufacturing sector.

Jesse Norman: The Government is committed to continuing to support our thriving cycling and e-bike sector. The Government provides indirect support to the sector through investment in cycling and walking infrastructure and through the Cycle to Work scheme. The Department has committed over £500m on dedicated active travel initiatives over the period of 2021/22 to 2022/23. The Department also provides funding for innovation in the transport sector through Transport Research and Innovation Grants.

Ministry of Defence

Trident Submarines: Procurement

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support the (a) production and (b) development of the Dreadnought-class ballistic missile submarines; and whether he is taking steps to accelerate the programme.

Alex Chalk: Like all major defence programmes, the Dreadnought Class submarine programme is regularly assessed for opportunities to de-risk schedule and improve performance. The programme remains within its overall budget and on track for the First of Class, HMS Dreadnought, to enter service in the early 2030s.

Type 26 Frigates: Iron and Steel

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the steel procured for each Type 26 frigate is from UK steelyards.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the steel procured for each Type 31 frigate is from UK steelyards.

Alex Chalk: For the Batch 1 Type 26 frigates, almost 50 per cent by value of the steel is UK sourced. Steel has not yet been purchased for the Batch 2 ships. Steel for the Type 31 frigates is sourced by Babcock from UK-based stockists. Both the Type 26 and Type 31 classes require the use of thin plate steel and this specification of steel with the required combination of thickness, size and flatness is not manufactured in the UK. Steel for our major defence programmes is generally sourced by our prime contractors from a range of UK and international suppliers and is procured in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines. We encourage the sourcing of UK steel wherever it is technically and commercially feasible.

Air Force: Unmanned Air Vehicles

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans that the Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft will enter service with the RAF.

Alex Chalk: Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (LANCA) is a Research and Development R&D Technology Demonstrator programme that was not intended to enter operational service, but instead to demonstrate R&D advances in operationally relevant technologies.A detailed review of the LANCA programme and other experimentation activities by the Royal Air Force has made substantial progress and gained significant value in understanding and harnessing a range of future uncrewed capability workstreams. This is now being taken forward by the RAF across the capability portfolio.

Future Combat Air System

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans that the concept and development phase for the Global Combat Air Programme will be completed.

Alex Chalk: The Concept and Assessment (C&A) phase began in 2021 and is on course to complete by 2025, leading into the Development Phase as planned to meet the in-service date of 2035. Key work is being undertaken during this time to define and begin design of the capability we require and invest in the skills and infrastructure needed to deliver it.

Air Force: Negligence

Gareth Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many aircrew were deemed negligent by reviewing officers despite contrary findings by the RAF Board of Inquiry between 1983 and 2011.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The information requested is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Although an incomplete collection of 550 Boards of Inquiry (from 2008 redesignated Service Inquiries) into RAF flying accidents from the period in question is held, there is no central document recording the outcomes.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the armed forces spent on campaigns aimed at diversifying their recruitment in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Dr Andrew Murrison: In financial year 2021-22, £921,110.93 was spent by the Armed Forces on recruitment marketing targeted to reach under-represented communities across the UK.

Armed Forces: Food

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what companies are contracted to deliver (a) food and (b) catering services for UK military personnel.

Alex Chalk: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has several contracts providing food and catering services across the UK. The main three catering service providers across the MOD estate are Aramark, ESS and Sodexo. Mitie also hold contracts with the MOD and supplies catering and other services to various sites in the UK. Depending on their sub-contracting model, each supplier will either have a food supply contract with a preferred supplier or use wholesale distribution providers. Food to the UK Training Estate is provided through the Leidos contract. These contracts and their providers for the UK are Bidfood, for UK Deployable Food.

Armed Forces: Food

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what companies are contracted to deliver food rations for UK military personnel.

Alex Chalk: The provider of Operational Ration Packs to the Ministry of Defence is Vestey Foods UK.

Frigates: Procurement

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of producing further Type 26 and Type 31 frigates for the Royal Navy.

Alex Chalk: The Royal Navy is carefully managing a Frigate Transition Programme to ensure the highest priority outputs are maintained through the 2020s as the Type 23 Frigates are retired, and the Type 26 and Type 31 Frigates are introduced into service. Current and planned force levels are continually assessed to ensure that they are optimised to best deliver the tasks His Majesty's Government asks of it, now and in the future. At the present time, it is assessed that the Type 26 and Type 31 Frigates ordered will be sufficient to meet requirements.

Defence: Procurement

Andy Carter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of spending on defence procurement was placed with UK companies in the latest period for which data is available.

Alex Chalk: The Department's latest publication on its regional expenditure with UK industry and commerce and supported employment for 2021-22 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-regional-expenditure-with-uk-industry-and-supported-employment-202122.The MOD remains committed to its aim of ensuring the UK continues to have a world-leading defence and security industrial base. In 2021-22, over £21 billion of around £23.4 billion overall expenditure with industry was spent in the UK. These statistics relate to expenditure within the UK, based on the location of where work has taken place, and do not take account of corporate structure and ultimate ownership of each company.

Fleet Solid Support Ships: Leasing

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with allies on the leasing of a Fleet Solid Support Ship for the Royal Navy.

Alex Chalk: In 2015 the Ministry of Defence explored the opportunity to short term lease two Auxiliary Cargo and Ammunition (T-AKE) support ships from the United States of America, which subsequently could not be spared. Since then, no further discussions have taken place with allies on leasing solid support shipping for the Royal Navy.

RFA Fort Victoria

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the service life of RFA Fort Victoria.

Alex Chalk: There are no current plans to extend RFA Fort Victoria beyond 2028, but the Royal Navy constantly explore options to ensure optimal availability of the fleet.

Attorney General

Crown Prosecution Service: Staff

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, how many (a) prosecutors and (b) other staff were employed in the Crown Prosecution Service’s (i) Serious Economic, Organised Crime and International Directorate and (ii) Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division as of 31 December 2022.

Michael Tomlinson: Please find data response attached.Data Response (docx, 64.3KB)

Crown Prosecution Service: Staff

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, how many (a) associate prosecutors, (b) crown prosecutors, (c) senior crown prosecutors, (d) Level 1-3 crown advocates, (e) Level 4 senior crown advocates and (f) principal crown advocates were employed by the Crown Prosecution Service as of 31 December 2022.

Michael Tomlinson: Please find data response attached.Data Response (docx, 64.3KB)

Crown Prosecution Service: Staff

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2021 to Question 90844 on Crown Prosecution Service: Staff, how many (a) prosecutors and (b) other staff were employed by the Crown Prosecution Service as of 31 December 2022.

Michael Tomlinson: Please find data in response attached.Data Response (docx, 64.3KB)

Department of Health and Social Care

Diagnosis

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to develop a standardised universal test list for non-genomic molecular diagnostic tests.

Will Quince: In October 2022, NHS England published the first NHS Genomics Strategy which can be found at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/B1627-Accelerating-Genomic-Medicine-October-2022.pdfIt includes a commitment that the National Health Service will continue to review the evidence to inform and update the National Genomic Test Directory to reflect the latest scientific and technological developments, which may include non-genomic tests that are part of the genomic functional pathway.

NHS: Pay Settlements

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of his policy on pay negotiations for NHS staff on the morale of those staff.

Will Quince: The Government highly values and appreciates all our National Health Service staff.The independent pay review body (PRB) process is the established mechanism for determining pay uplifts in the public sector, including for staff working in the NHS.The PRBs are made up of industry experts who carefully consider evidence submitted to them from a range of stakeholders, including government and trade unions. They base their recommendations on several factors including the economic context, cost of living, recruitment and retention, morale, and motivation of NHS staff.

Side Effects: Databases

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of recording all patients to whom pharmaceutical products with a higher risk of side effects, such as birth defects, have been prescribed; and if he will take steps to create such a centralised record of such patients.

Will Quince: The Department has made no assessment and has no plans to create such a centralised record.The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency monitors suspected adverse reactions through its Yellow Card Scheme. All approved medicines or medical devices clearly label potential side effects through the patient information leaflet provided with the medicine.A Medicines and Pregnancy Registry has been set up, containing data on every woman in England taking National Health Service prescribed valproate and all other antiepileptics taken during pregnancy. This registry identifies if they are pregnant and accessing NHS care for that pregnancy.

Prescription Drugs

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prescriptions were issued for each drug categorised under the drug groups (a) clonazepam and other benzodiazepines, (b) z-drugs, (c) antidepressants and (d) opioids in the (i) last 12 months and (ii) the previous 12 month period for which data is available.

Will Quince: The table below provided by the NHS Business Services Authority, shows the number of prescription items that were prescribed in England for (a) benzodiazepines including clonazepam, (b) z-drugs, (c) antidepressants and (d) opioids in the latest two full 12-month periods of available data.Time Period (12 months aggregated)Benzodiazepines including clonazepamZ-drugsAntidepressantsOpioid analgesicsDecember 2020 to November 20218,593,8255,562,22182,324,93823,014,968December 2021 to November 20228,355,5335,369,26185,476,70422,969,564

Multiple Sclerosis: Nurses

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of MS nurses in England.

Will Quince: Individual National Health Service employers are responsible for planning local staffing levels in line with service priorities, including the number of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) nurses.Whilst there are no specific targets for increasing numbers of MS nurses at a national level, the Government is on track to recruit 50,000 more nurses across hospital and general practice settings overall by 2024.

Integrated Care Boards: Standards

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take to steps to introduce a Care Quality Commission rating for Integrated Care Boards; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing those ratings for those boards.

Helen Whately: The Care Quality Commission will conduct reviews and assessments of Integrated Care Systems in accordance with its new duties under the Health and Care Act 2022. Integrated Care Boards are part of Integrated Care Systems, so their activity will be considered as part of these reviews.

Diseases: Diagnosis

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if it remains his Department's policy to have national diagnostic targets for illnesses including dementia.

Helen Whately: Improving diagnostics remains a key ambition following the publication of NHS England’s 2023/24 priorities and operational planning guidance.In December 2022, the recovery of the dementia diagnosis rate to the national ambition of 66.7% was included in NHS England’s priorities and operational planning guidance as part of the refined mental health objectives for 2023/24.

Breast Cancer: Radiotherapy

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the average time in England between NHS patient referral for breast cancer radiotherapy treatment and the first radiotherapy appointment.

Helen Whately: This data is not held centrally in the format requested.

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the cervical cancer screening coverage in Slough.

Helen Whately: The National Health Service is working on a campaign in the Slough and wider Thames Valley area to improve cervical screening coverage. It will target support to general practitioner’s practices with the lowest cervical screening coverage and encourage innovative approaches, which are known to encourage uptake. These including online appointment booking, text message alerts, and reminding people that they can request a female sample taker during a smear test. The various agencies involved in providing cervical screening services across Slough are working closely to understand local coverage data and share intelligence.

Cancer: Mortality Rates

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2023 to Question 125401 on Cancer: Mortality Rates, if he will make it his policy to ensure that consideration of NHS (a) priorities and (b) targets for cancer treatment includes an assessment of the potential impact of (i) late cancer diagnosis and (ii) delayed cancer treatment on trends in the prevalence of cancer mortality.

Helen Whately: Stage of cancer at diagnosis is one of the key factors influencing a person’s chances of surviving cancer. The NHS Long Term Plan sets out an ambition to see 75% of cancers diagnosed at stage one or two by 2028, up from around 55% in 2018/19.Late cancer diagnoses, delayed cancer treatment and the impact these have on cancer mortality inform NHS England’s delivery targets.

Mortality Rates

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the ONS data entitled Monthly mortality analysis, England and Wales: December 2022, published on 20 January 2023, what assessment his Department has made for the accuracy of those figures.

Neil O'Brien: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) monthly mortality analysis is categorised as a National Statistics publication, which means that it is produced to high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. ONS are a trusted supplier of Official Statistics and the content of this analysis can be regarded as accurate.There are a range of organisations producing different estimates of excess deaths based on different methodologies. Other sources include the ONS ‘Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional’ report, which can be found at the following link:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/latestThe Office for Health Improvement and Disparities ‘Excess mortality in England and English regions’ reports can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/excess-mortality-in-england-and-english-regions

Steroid Drugs: Prescriptions

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Sanofi's report on the analysis of the relationship between the use of prednisolone for asthma and COPD and social deprivation, published in November 2022, if his Department will take steps to investigate the potential higher prescribing of oral corticosteroids for people living with asthma and COPD in areas of higher social deprivation; whether his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) taking steps to reduce the higher prescribing of oral corticosteroids for asthma and COPD in the areas of highest social deprivation and (b) introducing a target or incentive for the reduction of maintenance oral corticosteroid use in patients with asthma.

Neil O'Brien: There are no plans to undertake an assessment of the prescribing of oral corticosteroids for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Reducing health inequalities amongst people with COPD and asthma is a key cross-cutting focus for NHS England. Respiratory clinical networks have been established to support delivery of the objectives set out in the Long-Term Plan, which includes a particular focus on reducing health inequalities.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the British Thoracic Society and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) provide clear guidance on the prescribing of oral steroids for both COPD and asthma. For both conditions, short courses only are recommended in cases of acute exacerbations. For people with COPD, NICE do not normally recommend maintenance use of oral corticosteroid therapy. However, some people with advanced COPD may require maintenance oral corticosteroids when these cannot be withdrawn after an exacerbation. In these cases, the dose of oral corticosteroids should be kept as low as possible

Nurses: Schools

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of school nurses.

Neil O'Brien: It is the responsibility of local authority commissioners, working with their service provider, to determine school nurses’ numbers based upon local needs. Requirements should be underpinned by a local workforce plan and population health needs.

Healthy Start Scheme

Andrew Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase the value of Healthy Start vouchers in 2023.

Neil O'Brien: While there are no current plans to increase the value of Healthy Start, this is kept under continuous review. In April 2021 the value of the Healthy Start benefit increased from £3.10 to £4.25 per week, providing additional support to pregnant women and families on lower incomes to make healthy food choices. Due to the increase, eligible families with children aged under one receive £8.50 per week compared to £6.20 previously.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Maternity Exemption Certificates for prescription charges, how many (a) enquiry letters were issued to patients who claimed they held a valid maternity exemption certificate and (b) Penalty Charge Notices were issued to these patients in each of the last five years.

Neil O'Brien: The table below shows the total number of Enquiry letters and total number of penalty charge notices (PCN) that have been issued in regard to a Maternity Exemption Certificate. More than one PCN or Enquiry letter may have been issued to an individual patient.Please note, prior to February 2020 there were no Enquiry letters issued as this was not part of the exemption enquiry process at that point.YearEnquiry letter issuedPCN issued2018N/A92,2082019N/A92,44020202,06613,359202110985202238,19130,625

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS tax credit exemption certificates for prescription charges, how many (a) enquiry letters were issued to patients who claimed they held a valid NHS tax credit exemption certificates and (b) Penalty Charge Notices were issued to these patients in each of the last five years.

Neil O'Brien: The table below shows the total number of Enquiry letters and total number of penalty charge notices (PCNs) that have been issued in regard to an NHS Tax Credit Exemption Certificate. More than one PCN or Enquiry letter may have been issued to an individual patient.Please note, prior to February 2020 there were no Enquiry letters issued as this was not part of the exemption enquiry process at that point.YearEnquiry letter issuedPCN issued2018N/A421,9702019N/A423,462202023,39343,60220215834612022130,455103,271

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Medical Exemption Certificates for prescription charges, how many (a) enquiry letters were issued to patients who claimed they held a valid medical exemption certificate and (b) Penalty Charge Notices were issued to these patients in each of the last five years.

Neil O'Brien: The table below shows the total number of Enquiry letters and total number of penalty charge notices (PCNs) that have been issued in regard to a Medical Exemption Certificate. More than one PCN or Enquiry letter may have been issued to an individual patient.Please note, prior to February 2020 there were no Enquiry letters issued as this was not part of the exemption enquiry process at that point.YearEnquiry letter issuedPCN issued2018N/A27,3452019N/A24,38420202842,0292021201020228,9836,608

Public Health: Finance

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to publish the public health grant allocations for 2023-24.

Neil O'Brien: We will announce the 2023/24 Public Health Grant allocations to local authorities shortly.

Primary Health Care: Pharmacy

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proposals will be included in the primary care recovery plan on using community pharmacies to support the health service.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase the use of community pharmacies in future covid-19 vaccination programmes.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of whether community pharmacies have adequate funding for the role envisaged for them in the primary care recovery plan.

Neil O'Brien: The primary care recovery plan will be published shortly and will set out a range of proposals including how they will be funded.Community pharmacy have played an active role in every phase of the COVID-19 vaccination programme. At the height of the booster programme there were over 1,500 designated community pharmacy-led COVID-19 vaccination sites. As recommendations are made to the Government on the need for any future vaccination programmes, NHS England will consider how best to deliver them.

Mental Health: Preventive Medicine

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for roll out of the R;pple tool for mental health outcomes.

Maria Caulfield: We have no plans to roll out the R;pple tool nationally.NHS England is working with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to develop a policy framework for digital health technologies to be assessed against, speeding up patient access to technologies that are proven to be safe and effective. The framework will be used to assess new and existing technologies, including those within mental health.

Mental Health Services

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve mental health provision for (a) all and (b) secondary school aged children and young people.

Maria Caulfield: The NHS Long Term Plan commits an additional £2.3 billion a year for the expansion and transformation of mental health services in England by 2023/24 so that an additional two million people, including 345,000 children and young people, can get the National Health Service funded mental health support that they need. We also provided an additional £500 million to further expand mental health services in the 2021/22 financial year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This included £79 million, which allowed around 22,500 more children and young people to access community health services, 2,000 more to access eating disorder services and accelerated the coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges. There are currently 287 mental health support teams in place in around 4,700 primary and secondary schools and colleges across the country, offering support to children experiencing anxiety, depression, and other common mental health issues. Over 500 mental health support teams are planned to be up and running by 2024. We also launched a campaign through the NHS Every Mind Matters website to raise awareness of the guidance and tools available to support children and young people’s mental wellbeing. Through the new mandatory health education curriculum, pupils are taught how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns, including common types of mental ill health, where and how to seek support and whom they should speak to in school if they’re worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support children and young people with their mental health.

Maria Caulfield: We are expanding and transforming mental health services through the NHS Long Term Plan, which commits to increasing investment into mental health services by at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24. Part of this increased investment will enable an additional 345,000 children and young people to get the National Health Service funded mental health support they need.In recognition of the increased demand created by the COVID-19 pandemic, we invested an extra £79 million in 2021/22 to expand children’s mental health services, including enabling around 22,500 more children and young people to access community health services, 2,000 more to access eating disorder services and accelerating the coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges. There are currently 287 mental health support teams in place in around 4,700 schools and colleges across the country, offering support to children experiencing anxiety, depression, and other common mental health issue. Mental health support teams now cover 26 per cent. of pupils, a year earlier than originally planned, and this will increase to 399 teams, covering around 35 per cent. of pupils, by April 2023 with over 500 planned to be up and running by 2024. In September 2020, we launched a campaign through the Every Mind Matters website to raise awareness of the guidance and tools available to support children and young people’s mental wellbeing. Also supporting parents with the Start for Life programme that aims to improve the health of babies and children under five in England by encouraging a healthy lifestyle, helping parents-to-be and mums and dads to give their children the best possible start. We know that the 1,001 days from conception to age two years old are critical days for a baby that sets the foundations for lifelong emotional and physical wellbeing.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Paula Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of community provision of mental health services to under-18s.

Maria Caulfield: The Department keeps the mental health of children and young people and the services available for them, under continuous assessment through studies such as the Mental Health and Young People Survey 2017 and its follow up reports. The mental health services dataset indicates that 689,621 under 18 year olds were supported through at least one contact with National Health Service funded mental health services in the year up to July 2022. The NHS Long Term plan commits to increasing investment into NHS mental health services in England by at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 and aims for an additional 345,000 children and young people to be able to get the mental health support they need. In recognition of the increased demand created by the COVID-19 pandemic, we invested an extra £79 million in 2021/22 to significantly expand children’s mental health services, including enabling around 22,500 more children and young people to access community health services, 2,000 more to access eating disorder services and a faster increase in the coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges. There are currently 287 mental health support teams in place in around 4,700 schools and colleges across the country, offering support to children experiencing anxiety, depression, and other common mental health issue. Mental health support teams now cover 26 per cent. of pupils, a year earlier than originally planned and this will increase to 399 teams, covering around 35 per cent. of pupils, by April 2023 with over 500 planned to be up and running by 2024.

Mental Illness: Males

Paula Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the scale of mental ill-health amongst the male population; and what plans his Department has to help reduce the number of deaths from male suicide.

Maria Caulfield: ‘Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey: Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, England, 2014’Showed that one in five women (20.7%) and one in eight men (13.2%) were estimated to have symptoms of common mental health disorders. From 2019/20, we are investing £57 million in suicide prevention through the NHS Long Term Plan. This will see investment in every area by 2023/24 to support local suicide prevention plans and establish suicide bereavement support services. We have ensured that this funding is testing different approaches to reaching men in local communities. We also announced in May 2022 that 113 suicide prevention voluntary, community and social enterprises received a share of £5.4 million funding in 2021/22 to prevent suicide in high-risk groups, including men. In addition, every local authority area has a suicide prevention plan in place, and the guidance we issued to local authorities highlights the importance of working across all local services, including the voluntary sector, to target high risk groups such as men. The Department is working closely with the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group and wider stakeholders over the coming months to develop the new National Suicide Prevention Strategy. This will include discussions on issues relating to high-risk groups, such as men.

Allergies: Health Services

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that allergy clinics have the (a) resources and (b) capacity to carry out allergy tests on patients with suspected allergies within an appropriate timeframe.

Helen Whately: Specialist allergy services for patients with rare and complex conditions, including allergy clinics, are commissioned by NHS England Specialised Commissioning in line with the published Service Specification. This sets out that providers should deliver a diagnostic package for the investigation of suspected allergic diseases, including initial consultation and follow-up in a dedicated allergy clinic and specialised allergy tests.

Brain: Diseases

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2023 to Question 137735 on Brain: Diseases, if he will hold discussions with mental health trusts on whether they are excluding patients in need of community mental health care because they have organic brain disorders.

Maria Caulfield: The Department has no plans to hold discussions with mental health trusts on this issue.NHS England has advised that it is not aware of any mental health trusts excluding patients in need of community mental health care because they have organic brain disorders. Trusts should operate according to clinical need. Mental health services should not be a first port of call for someone with an organic brain disease. However, if an individual with organic brain disease develops mental health issues, or has existing mental health issues, there should be no reason to exclude them from mental health services.

Health Services: Mental Illness

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer 31 January 2023 to Question 133742 on Health Services, which mental health conditions will be included in the Major Conditions Strategy.

Maria Caulfield: The Major Conditions Strategy will cover prevention to treatment for six broad conditions including mental ill health and we will continue to work closely with stakeholders, citizens and the National Health Service in coming weeks to identify actions that will have the most impact. No decisions have yet been made on which specific mental health conditions might be included in the strategy.

Mental Health Services: Children

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Major Conditions Strategy will include policies to (a) help tackle children's mental health needs and (b) support children's mental health services.

Maria Caulfield: We received over 5,000 submissions to our mental health and wellbeing call for evidence, and we appreciate the engagement work many stakeholders carried out with children and young people, to inform their responses. We have analysed these responses and we will consider them as part of the process for developing the mental ill health content in the Major Conditions Strategy.

Care Homes: Bradford East

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of care homes were rated as good by the Care Quality Commission in Bradford East constituency as of February 2023.

Helen Whately: As of 7 February 2023, nine care homes (52.9%) were rated by Care Quality Commission as good in the Bradford East constituency.

Capivasertib

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for the use of the breast cancer treatment capivasertib in the NHS.

Helen Whately: Capivasertib is not yet licensed for the treatment of breast cancer in the United Kingdom. While the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) assesses any submitted applications for new healthcare products and is willing to facilitate the appropriate regulatory processes, the agency cannot actively seek these applications. The MHRA is aware of clinical trials for capivasertib to treat multiple subtypes of breast cancer, including triple negative breast cancer, however we are not able to comment on any company submission or licencing status related to this at this point in time.Capivasertib would be considered for appraisal by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) if it were to receive a licence from the MHRA. The NHS in England is legally required to fund drugs recommended by NICE, usually within three months of final guidance.

Bowel Cancer: Health Services

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department will take to consult those affected by bowel cancer on its Major Conditions Strategy.

Helen Whately: The Major Conditions Strategy will draw on previous work on cancer, including over 5,000 submissions provided to the Department as part of our Call for Evidence last year.  Many of those submissions will have included feedback on bowel cancer. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders, citizens and the National Health Service in coming weeks to identify actions for the Strategy that will have the most impact.

Maternity Services: Communication

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to help ensure that NHS documentation and correspondence relating to maternity services refers to women and mothers.

Maria Caulfield: As set out in the Women’s Health Strategy, published August 2022, the Government is committed to ensuring that women are properly represented in communications and guidance, including through the appropriate use of sex-specific language to communicate matters that relate to women’s and men’s individual health issues.

Wales Office

Research: Wales

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of research funding for Welsh universities.

David T C  Davies: The UK Government is committed to making the UK a science superpower, backed by £39.8 billion for 2022-25, the largest ever research and development (R&D) budget. As part of the Levelling Up White Paper, the Government is also committed to investing at least 55% of total domestic R&D funding outside of the South East by 2024-25. The £39.8 billion R&D budget includes £25.1 billion for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which provide UK-wide funding opportunities. I am committed to working with universities in Wales and UKRI to maximise Wales’ success in the funding opportunities available. Additional UK Government funding is also being provided to the Welsh Government as part of an immediate package of investment in the UK’s R&D sector announced in November 2022. This provides over £11m to the Welsh Government to distribute to Welsh universities in the current financial year.

Department for Education

Children's Social Care Independent Review

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish the Government's response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.

Claire Coutinho: On 2 February 2023, the department published ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, the response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/childrens-social-care-stable-homes-built-on-love.

Pupils: Undocumented Migrants

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the cost of providing education to people who crossed the English Channel in small boats and were found to be children in each of the last three years.

Claire Coutinho: All children in the UK are entitled to access a school-based education in England, and this includes all refugee and asylum-seeker children. The department does not collect data on whether children attending schools in England crossed the English Channel in a small boat.

Department for Education: Vehicles

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) fossil fuel-, (b) electric- and (c) hybrid-powered road-legal vehicles their Department purchased in the last 24 months.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not own any vehicles and has not purchased any vehicles in the last 24 months.

Further Education: Finance

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's policy paper, Further education reclassification: government response, published on 29 November 2022, what plans she has to address concerns in the further education sector over borrowing controls on colleges.

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's policy paper Further education reclassification: government response, published on 29 November 2022, if she will take steps to ensure that further education colleges do not suffer financially as a result of borrowing controls; and whether colleges that were negotiating loans will be able to proceed with those negotiations.

Robert Halfon: Following the decision by the Office for National Statistics to reclassify colleges to the public sector, colleges are now subject to the requirements of Managing Public Money, which means they may only borrow from private sector sources if the transaction delivers value for money for the Exchequer.To support and protect colleges the department is providing colleges with additional capital grant allocations totalling £150 million. Individual college allocations were published in December 2022 and will be paid from April 2023. The full list can be found here: https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F1121488%2FAdditional_FE_capital_funding_allocations_2022_to_2023.ods&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK.The department is also bringing forward £300 million in payments from the 2023/24 financial year into the 2022/23 financial year to cover the shortfall that providers experience in February and March 2023. This means we will make additional payments to institutions in February and March 2023.These new measures are designed to help colleges manage the restrictions on commercial borrowing. Where a college believes that commercial borrowing is still required and would deliver value for money, they can submit a consent request for consideration. Departmental officials are working closely with further education colleges through these consent requests.Departmental officials are also working on other options to support the delivery of capital projects by the sector, including for colleges that were intending to borrow from commercial sources.

Adoption

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Independent Review of Children's Social Care, published in May 2022, whether she plans to take steps to reform adoption processes.

Claire Coutinho: The National Adoption Strategy, published in July 2021, sets out the department’s long-term ambitions and a clear programme of reform to deliver excellence in adoption services across England. As set out in our Adoption Strategy, we remain committed to improving adoption processes, including modernising contact arrangements between birth parents, adopted children and adoptive parents, a key recommendation from the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. This strategy can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-strategy-achieving-excellence-everywhere.

Religious Freedom: Curriculum

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has provided guidance to schools on the teaching of freedom of religion and belief.

Nick Gibb: As part of religious education, schools without a religious character are expected to adopt a pluralistic approach when it comes to the teaching of different faiths. Non-faith maintained schools must follow the locally agreed syllabus which, whilst being broadly Christian in nature, must take account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain. Non-faith academies are free to design their own syllabus, but it must meet the requirements of the locally agreed syllabus.Since 2014, all schools have been required to actively promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs. The Department has published guidance on promoting fundamental British values as part of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, to which maintained schools have obligations.Schools are free to cover a full range of issues, ideas and materials, including where they are challenging or contentious. This must be balanced against their obligations to ensure political balance and promote respect and tolerance between people of different faiths and beliefs. The Department has published guidance for schools on political impartiality, to help them to understand their responsibilities in this area, including the importance of introducing pupils to a diverse range of views during their time at school: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools.

Special Educational Needs: Cancer

Dame Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing an Education, Health and Care Plan for children who (a) are undergoing and (b) have recently undergone cancer treatment.

Claire Coutinho: For a child diagnosed with cancer, it is desirable that they continue to attend school if they are well enough, both to maintain their education and for the benefits of being with their friends. This may not always be possible, either on a short- or long-term basis.Where a child has additional or different needs to those which can be met in mainstream provision, the child is considered to have a special educational need and disability (SEND). Whether or not a child requires an education, health and care (EHC) plan will depend on the nature of their cancer, its treatment and the child’s ability to access education. All EHC plans are tailored to the needs of the individual child and the 2014 SEND Code of Practice 0 to 25 years, sets out how the assessment of the child’s needs should be conducted. Current legislation means that there is adequate provision for a child with cancer to have an EHC plan if they require it to continue their education, even if this is in a setting outside of their usual school.Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 places a duty on local authorities to make alternative arrangements for children of statutory school age who cannot attend school for any reason. This should be taken into account as part of the child’s EHC plan assessment and reviews so that they can be provided with suitable education in a setting which balances their educational needs and their health condition. For example, home tutoring for a child vulnerable to infection due to cancer treatment.

Asylum: Children

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of local authorities' capacity to place unaccompanied asylum-seeking children with foster carers.

Claire Coutinho: The department takes the welfare of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) seriously and is clear that they should be in the care of a local authority, including foster care where appropriate.With the aim of identifying and overcoming barriers to moving UASC swiftly out of hotels to local authority care placements through the National Transfer Scheme, a UASC Taskforce was established in November - jointly chaired by the Department for Education and Home Office Permanent Secretaries and involving the Association of Directors Of Children's Services (ADCS), Local Government Authorities (LGA), Ofsted and representatives from the devolved nations.The department monitors closely data and research in trends relating to the recruitment of foster carers. Recognising the urgency of action in placement sufficiency, we will prioritise working with local authorities to recruit more foster carers. Depending on local need, this may include for example sibling groups, teenagers, mother and baby placements, UASC and children who have suffered complex trauma. This will involve pathfinder local recruitment campaigns that build towards a national programme, to help ensure children have access to the right placements at the right time. As the Care Review recommends, we will focus on providing more support throughout the application process to improve the conversion rate from expressions of interest to approved foster carers. More information on foster care placements can be found here: https://childrenssocialcare.independent-review.uk/final-report/.The department works collaboratively with local government - including the LGA and ADCS - to understand questions of capacity around placing UASC in local authority care. This involves working closely with those local authorities where there may be barriers or challenges to taking UASC and with local government to understand and disseminate good practice when it comes to placing and caring for UASC.

Students: Loans

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of student loans in the context of the housing costs which students have to pay.

Robert Halfon: The Government recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year and that are impacting students. The government has made £261 million of student premium funding available for the 2022/23 academic year to support successful outcomes for disadvantaged students. The department has worked with the Office for Students (OfS) to make clear universities can draw on this funding to boost their own hardship funds and support students in need.On 11 January, the department announced a one-off reallocation of funding to add £15 million to this year's student premium, to support additional hardship requests. There is now £276 million of student premium funding available this academic year to support students who need additional help. This extra funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship, and hardship support schemes.The government reviews living costs support on an annual basis. It has continued to increase maximum loans and grants for living and other costs each year, with a 2.3% increase for the current 2022/23 academic year. The government has recently announced a further 2.8% increase to maximum loans and grants for living and other costs for the 2023/24 academic year.Loans for living costs are a contribution towards students’ living costs, including housing costs while attending university, with the most support targeted at students who need it the most, such as students from low-income families.Students who have been awarded a loan for living costs for the 2022/23 academic year that is lower than the maximum, and whose household income for the 2022/23 financial year has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment, can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.All households will save on their energy bills through the Energy Price Guarantee and the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme discount. Students who buy their energy from a domestic supplier are eligible for the energy bills discount.The Energy Prices Act passed on 25 October includes the provision to require landlords to pass benefits they receive from energy price support, as appropriate, onto end users. Further requirements under this Act are set out in the legislation. A HM Treasury-led review is being undertaken to consider how to support households and businesses with energy bills after April 2023.The department encourages universities and private landlords to review their accommodation policies to ensure they are fair, clear, and have the interests of students at heart. This includes making accommodation available at a range of affordable price points where possible. The department also encourages higher education and private accommodation providers to work in partnership to help students make well-informed choices about their accommodation.

Teachers: Sick Leave

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of schools requiring teachers who are unwell on days of industrial to seek a doctors note on the NHS.

Nick Gibb: Sickness arrangements for teachers in England are covered by the Conditions of Service for School Teachers in England and Wales (known as the Burgundy Book) and fall to individual employers to implement. For schools this is normally the Local Authority or Academy Trust.The Burgundy Book is a national agreement on conditions of service between unions and Local Authorities, facilitated by Local Government Association, which the Department has no jurisdiction or input into.Most Local Authorities follow the terms of the Burgundy Book scheme, which is incorporated into their teachers’ contracts of employment. In some Local Authorities, local agreements improve upon the Burgundy Book scheme. Teachers who work in academies or free schools may also be covered by different arrangements, particularly if they joined the academy or free school after it changed status.

Children: Food Poverty

Paula Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the level of school holiday hunger; and whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing support to local authorities to help tackle school holiday hunger.

Claire Coutinho: The department is investing over £200 million a year in our holiday activities and food (HAF) programme. Delivered through grants to local authorities across England, HAF provides free holiday club places to children from low-income families, providing them with enriching activities and healthy meals over the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays.Last summer, the department reached over 685,000 children and young people in England, including over 475,000 children eligible for free school meals.

Schools: Mental Health Services

Paula Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of child mental health provision in (a) primary and (b) secondary school settings.

Claire Coutinho: I refer the hon. Member for Liverpool Wavertree to the answer I gave on 25 January 2023 to Question 126752.

Special Educational Needs

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2023 to Question 126832 on Special Educational Needs: Greater London, what steps her Department is taking to assess the level of staff and resources that schools require to provide a full-time education to deaf and visually-impaired children.

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2023 to Question 126832 on Special Educational Needs: Greater London, if she will make it her policy to collect statistics on the number of (a) Teachers of the Deaf and (b) Teachers for the Visually Impaired working in state-funded schools in England in order to aid workforce planning.

Claire Coutinho: The department is firmly committed to ensuring that children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including sensory impairment, receive the support needed to succeed in their education.The department does not collect data on the number of sensory impairment qualified teachers working in state-funded schools. Local authorities in England are required to publish information on the availability of specialist services, and the support commissioned and provided for children and young people with SEND, including sensory impairment, in a local offer. To ensure local needs are met, they must work with children, young people and their families to develop this.New national SEND and alternative provision (AP) standards were proposed in the SEND and AP Green Paper. These standards aim to make consistent the provision that should be made available across the country for every child and young person with SEND, including those with sensory impairments, acting as a common point of reference for every person in the SEND and AP system. They are intended to set out the full range of appropriate types of support and placements for meeting different needs. New local SEND and AP partnerships will carry out a comprehensive assessment of all types of need and existing provision across their local area and co-produce a Local Inclusion Plan with parents and carers that sets out how that need will be met, which will inform the local offer.

Ministry of Justice

Reoffenders: Children

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help reduce the rate of reoffences per reoffender among children.

Damian Hinds: In the last year, both the overall reoffending rate and the rate at which reoffending children offended (frequency rate) fell. The overall proven reoffending rate for children has fallen by 9.7 percentage points from 40.9% in 2010/11 to 31.2% in 2020/21. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 included measures to strengthen sentencing options. These include piloting of changes to the YRO with ISS which we will commence later this year. These pilots seek to give courts the confidence that children can be effectively supervised through a community sentence, which can be more effective in reducing reoffending than custody. The Act also removed the previously fixed lengths of the DTO, giving courts more flexibility to address persistent offending.

Young Offenders

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on how many times an individual child was removed from association for periods (a) up to three days, (b) up to 14 days, (c) up to 21 days, (d) up to 42 days and (e) more than 42 days for each juvenile young offender institution  in the 12 months to31 March 2022; and if he will break down those removals by the  (i) age, (ii) sex, (iii) ethnicity of the children removed from association, (iv) number of children who were classed as disabled and (v) recorded reasons for those removals.

Damian Hinds: Young people are only temporarily separated from their peers as a very last resort to protect others. When this happens, they receive extra support from specially trained staff. We are bolstering training for every frontline officer, backed by £5m of funding, to improve care and support for all those in custody. Children are never separated as a punishment. The information relating to the number of separations is provided below:  Cookham WoodFelthamParcWerringtonWetherby - MainWetherby - Keppel UnitPeriod of Removal  (a) up to three days392586107#(b) up to 14 days1388096810016(c) up to 21 days23#01352#(d) up to 42 days20-25#05-1017#(e) more than 42 days#00###Grand Total225112959917727   (i) Age  1514##6120165424342946#17112654552871918+3015-205-107275-10Grand Total210110919417227   (ii) Sex  Male2101109194170-18022-27Female0000##   (iii) Ethnicity  Asian5-105-10010#0Black11562333247#Mixed2213121223#Not Stated#0#000Other13##0#0White502242409323Grand Total210110919417227   (iv) Disability  For the period in question, we are not able to provide information on a child’s or young person's disability status at the point they were separated, as this is a new reporting function, which came into effect for those who entered custody after April 2021.   (v) Reason for Removal  Prevent Harm to Others122100#7214514Prevent Harm to Self395-10##10-15#Self-Isolation64#019198-13Pending Adjudication0089000Other000##0Grand Total225112959917727Notes:Source: bespoke returns from establishments, collated monthly. Table includes completed separations ending on or after 1 April 2021 and those starting on or before 31 March 2022. # indicates a value of 5 or fewer, which has been suppressed in order to prevent the possible identification of individuals.Where a suppressed value could be calculated from other values, secondary suppression has been applied by providing a range that the true figure lies within.Breakdowns (i) to (v) do not include cases where the information is not known.This is internal management information and subject to change.

Prison Accommodation: Expenditure

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Ministry of Justice: spend control data for April 2022 to June 2022 published on 30 September 2022, how many Rapid Deployment Cells (a) have already been built and (b) are scheduled to be built in connection with the listed £60,000,000 expenditure.

Damian Hinds: We are delivering 1,000 Rapid Deployment Cells, with the majority being delivered in 2023. These modular units will include both accommodation units and ancillaries.a) As of 31 January 2023, a total of 489 modular units, including accommodation and ancillaries, have been fully manufactured with some modular units already installed on sites as part of Tranche 1 of the Rapid Deployment Cells Programme.b) Additionally, a further 81 Tranche 1 units are scheduled to be manufactured in connection with the listed £60,000,000 expenditure.

Treasury

Treasury: Go-Centric

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's contract with Go-Centric Ltd., agreed on 30 June 2022 (reference CCST22A52), (a) how many calls were handled under the scope of the contract from 4 July 2022 to 4 July 2023 and (b) how much public money was paid to Go-Centric Ltd. for their services under the terms of the contract in the same period.

James Cartlidge: Between 4th July 2022 and 27th January 2023, the total number of calls handled by Go-Centric was 345, and the total paid for their services in the same period was £1,172.50. Go-Centric provided and operated a Public Enquiries Call Handling and Switchboard service to receive and direct enquires from members of the public attempting to contact HM Treasury. This service involved: Answering telephone calls from members of the public within service level agreements and ensuring callers are directed to the correct resolution. This included submitting enquiries to our central Correspondence and Enquiry Unit on behalf of callers who do not have access to email or were unable to write to us.Directing switchboard calls and connect these to the appropriate extension or staff member. The service cost is based on calls answered, transferred and messages taken, and accounts for the cost of ensuring call handlers are available to manage the Public Enquiry Line and Switchboard Service during agreed operating hours (9.00 am – 5.00 pm Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays).

Yevgeny Prigozhin

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, If he will publish the findings of his Department's review of the issuing of a special licence to Yevgeny Prigozhin by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.

Kate Osamor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to publish the conclusions of the review into the special licenses granted to the law firm undertaking work on behalf of Yevgeny Prigozhin.

James Cartlidge: HM Treasury does not comment on specific licensing cases. HM Treasury’s Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) takes operational decisions relating to the implementation of financial sanctions in line with the relevant regulations. However, OFSI has not considered it appropriate for the Treasury to effectively decide on whether a case has sufficient merit to be permitted to proceed by deciding whether to license legal fees. Rather, OFSI's position has been that the merits should be decided by the appropriate court. OFSI assesses cases on a costs-basis only, ensuring that the fees requested are reasonable in accordance with the derogations available under the sanctions regimes. We need to carefully balance the right to legal representation - which is a fundamental one - with wider issues, including the aim and purpose of the sanctions. It is right therefore that HM Treasury are examining whether there are any changes that can be made to this policy. We will update the House in due course.

Individual Savings Accounts: Tax Allowances

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to amend the tax-free entitlements for individual savings accounts in the next two years.

Andrew Griffith: The Government recognises the importance of saving and is committed to ensuring that savings tax policy continues to support savers at all stages of life. This includes policy relating to ISAs, which remain popular across the UK - around 12 million adult ISAs were subscribed to in 2020-21.   Individuals can save up to £20,000 into an ISA each year. This, coupled with the Personal Savings Allowance of up to £1,000 for basic rate taxpayers and up to £500 for higher rate taxpayers, ensures that most savers pay no tax on their savings income.   The government keeps all aspects of savings tax policy under review as part of the process of policy development and delivery, with any changes made as part of the Budget process.

Payment Methods

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will consider the potential merits of taking steps to require providers of (a) goods and (b) services to accept cash payment.

Andrew Griffith: As technology and consumer behaviour changes, it should remain the choice of individual organisations as to whether to accept or decline any form of payment, including cash or card, based on their consideration of factors such as customer preference and cost. Nonetheless, the government recognises that many people continue to transact in cash across the UK and engages closely with financial regulators to monitor and assess trends relating to cash. Research published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2020 found that 98% of small businesses surveyed would never turn away a customer if they needed to pay by cash. The government is currently taking legislation to protect access to cash across the UK through Parliament as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022. The legislation will establish the FCA as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities. This will support local businesses to continue accepting cash. Further details about the Financial Services and Markets Bill can be found on the Parliament website: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3326

Cash Dispensing

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on publishing a policy statement on free access to cash services for low-income families, as part of the digital pound initiative.

Andrew Griffith: Treasury Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-giftsand-overseas-travel While the adoption of digital payments continues to develop at pace, the government recognises that millions of people continue to use cash, particularly those in vulnerable groups. Therefore, the government is currently taking legislation through Parliament to protect access to cash across the UK as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill.

Pensions: Taxation

Peter Gibson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of equalising taxation rules on inherited pension pots when a pension holder dies (a) before and (b) after the age of 75.

Peter Gibson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the potential impact on tax revenues of (a) taxing pension inheritance at the same rate for people who die before and after the age of 75 and (b) no longer taxing pension inheritance for people who die after the age of 75.

Andrew Griffith: The primary purpose of a pension is to provide income, or funds on which individuals can draw, in retirement. If an individual dies before they get to use it for that purpose, the Government believes their beneficiaries should be able to have the funds. However, the Government does not want pensions to become a vehicle for inheritance tax planning. Therefore, once an individual is 75, they will be able to pass these funds on to others in a flexi-access drawdown account or as a lump sum, but the recipient will need to pay their marginal rate of tax on them. The age of 75 is a feature of the existing pensions tax system. It is the age at which individuals stop receiving tax relief on pension contributions and at which most people will bring or will have brought their pension into payment. As ever, the Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review, as part of the annual Budget process, and in the context of the wider public finances.

Help to Save Scheme

Paul Maynard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have opened a Help to Save account in each year since its introduction.

Paul Maynard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of people with a Help to Save account who pay in every month.

Paul Maynard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of people who have made consecutive monthly payments into their Help to Save account over a period of at least six months.

Paul Maynard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average length of time was that a Help to Save account remained open since the introduction of that scheme.

Paul Maynard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have kept their Help to Save accounts open up to the (a) two and (b) four year bonus deadlines.

Paul Maynard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average bonus was for a Help to Save scheme account since the introduction of that scheme.

Paul Maynard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the average time between Help to Save account holders making their first and second payments.

Andrew Griffith: The number of Help to Save accounts opened each month up to the end of March 2022 are published in the Annual Savings Statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2022. The relevant information can be found in tab 2 of the document “Help to Save tables: June 2022”. This information will be updated in the next edition of the Annual Savings Statistics, due to be published in June 2023. We cannot provide an estimate of the proportion of people who pay into their Help to Save account each month. This would exceed the cost limit due to data matching and cleansing. We cannot provide an estimate of the number or proportion of individuals who have made consecutive payments into their Help to Save accounts over a period of six months. This would exceed the cost limit due to data matching and cleansing. As of end of December 2022, based on closed accounts, the average length of time a Help to Save account remained open was 3 years and 11 months. As of end of December 2022:257,000 accounts have remained open for at least two years,81,000 accounts have remained open for the maximum of four years. As of end of December 2022, to the nearest £5:The average bonus at the end of the second year was £395, out of a maximum £600,The average bonus at the end of the fourth year was £450 out of a maximum £600.Please note that because bonuses are only paid out for those who save, not all accounts received a bonus. We have excluded accounts that did not receive a bonus from our calculated average bonuses. We cannot provide an estimate of the average length of time between Help to Save account holders’ first and second payments. This would exceed the cost limit due to data matching and cleansing.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Pakistan: Mosques

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the implications for its policies of the attack on a mosque in Karachi on 2 February 2023.

Leo Docherty: Protecting freedom of religion or belief for minority communities continues to be central to the UK Government's human rights engagement in Pakistan. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, raised the treatment of Ahmadi Muslims with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, on 30 January. On 9 January, Minister of State for Development Andrew Mitchell raised this issue with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The British High Commission in Islamabad continues to engage at a senior level with government representatives and civil society, including on recent attacks on Ahmadi mosques.

Fariba Kamalabadi and Mahvash Sabet

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the re-imprisonment of Fariba Kamalabadi and Mahvash Sabet in Iran.

David Rutley: The UK unequivocally condemns the persecution of religious minorities in Iran. Reports of increased detentions, expropriation of land and destruction of homes indicate the regime redoubled its repression of the Baha'i community in 2022. On 20 December 2022, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Fiona Bruce, expressed the UK's condemnation of the sentencing of Baha'i leaders Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi to a further decade of imprisonment. In 2023, we continue to work closely with our international partners to hold Iran to account for its dire human rights record, and to raise these issues with the regime at all appropriate opportunities.

Yemen: Human Rights and War Crimes

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking in its role as penholder on Yemen at the UN Security Council to support the creation of an international mechanism to ensure accountability for human rights violations and war crimes.

David Rutley: Yemen is a human rights priority country for the UK. In the latest FCDO human rights report published in December 2022, covering 2021, we highlighted our concerns over women's rights, the recruitment of child soldiers, arbitrary detention, attacks on freedom of religion or belief and on freedom of speech and association. We call upon all parties to the conflict in Yemen to comply with their obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law. We regret that the mandate of the UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen was not renewed in October 2021, the UK voted in favour of the mandate renewal. We are discussing with international partners the potential for a follow-up mechanism to support human rights accountability in Yemen. Justice and accountability are key for inclusive and durable peace.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Vehicles

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) fossil fuel-, (b) electric- and (c) hybrid-powered road-legal vehicles their Department purchased in the last 24 months.

David Rutley: The FCDO does not hold detailed information centrally on the number of vehicles purchased in the current financial year. The FCDO's Fixed Asset Register records the number of vehicles that are brought into service. This is not broken down by fuel type. The Register added 307 vehicles between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2022. The FCDO maintains a policy for the purchase of low emission vehicles requiring these to not exceed 75g of Carbon Dioxide per Kilometre and preferably to not exceed 50g of Carbon Dioxide per Kilometre, subject to certain exemptions including local availability.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Public Libraries: Finance

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that (a) Newtownards Library and (b) other public libraries have sufficient funding to encourage more people to visit them.

Stuart Andrew: Public libraries policy in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter. The funding of the public library service in Northern Ireland, including Newtownards library, is a matter for the Department for Communities, with provision and promotion of the service secured through Libraries Northern Ireland.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Vehicles

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) fossil fuel-, (b) electric- and (c) hybrid-powered road-legal vehicles their Department purchased in the last 24 months.

Julia Lopez: None for all three categories.

Animal Welfare: Charities

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with the Advertising Standards Authority on the broadcasting of images of animal cruelty on TV adverts for animal welfare charities before the 9.00pm watershed.

Julia Lopez: Advertising across broadcast media in the UK is regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), an organisation independent of government, through their Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP Code). The ASA regulates charity advertisements and not the charities themselves, which are regulated by the Charity Commission.In their rules, the ASA makes it clear that advertising featuring animals should not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence, or undue fear or distress. The BCAP code specifically requires broadcasters to exercise responsible judgement on the scheduling of advertisements and avoid unsuitable juxtapositions between advertising material and programmes, especially those that could distress or offend viewers or listeners. In addition, all broadcast advertising is cleared by Clearcast to ensure advertising content is thoroughly checked according to the BCAP before it airs.Currently the Secretary of State has no plans to discuss this with the ASA.

Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions: Vehicles

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) fossil fuel-, (b) electric- and (c) hybrid-powered road-legal vehicles their Department purchased in the last 24 months.

Mims Davies: DWP has not purchased any vehicles in the last 24 months, as the DWP policy is to lease vehicles.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Highly Protected Marine Areas Review

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to implement the recommendations of the independent report entitled Benyon review Into Highly Protected Marine Areas, published on 17 August 2022.

Trudy Harrison: As confirmed in the recent Environment Improvement Plan, we intend to designate the first HPMAs this year. Following the public consultation on candidate HPMAs last summer, we will soon be making an announcement on which of those sites will be designated.

Food: Standards

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to bring forward a Food and Feed Bill to bring existing food standards into UK law.

Mark Spencer: The Government is in the process of analysing and assessing retained EU law (REUL) to determine what should be preserved as part of domestic law, and what should be repealed, or amended. This work will determine how we use the powers in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) BillIn reviewing REUL, the Government’s aim is to ensure that food law is fit for purpose and the UK regulatory framework is appropriate and tailored to the needs of UK consumers and business. The UK has world leading standards of food safety and quality, backed by a rigorous legislative framework but it is only right that we should evaluate REUL to ensure it continues to meet our needs. While this is an opportunity for review, maintaining the UK’s high food standards remains our priority. The Government remains committed to promoting robust food standards nationally and internationally, to protect consumer interests, facilitate international trade, and ensure that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy.

Eggs: Imports

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many game bird eggs have been imported into the UK by country in each of the last five years.

Mark Spencer: Year and Country of OriginTotal number of Game Bird Eggs 2018Czech Republic12,960Denmark38,160France21,520,679Germany19,000Ireland118,400Poland1,211,480Portugal15,000Spain943,620Canada1,585,600USA322,9602019Czech Republic360Denmark1,400France27,433,916Germany1,200Hungary427,680Poland1,263,560Portugal142,630Spain825,720USA283,3802020France22,493,288Germany4,000Hungary99,000Poland1,140,180Portugal94,000Spain757,620The Netherlands42,000USA260,8402021USA16,800Austria420France21,967,898Poland102,340Spain1,257,4002022USA19,200Denmark22,000France3,459,766Germany1,400Hungary78,840Poland113,000Spain204,080This information is drawn from external TRACES and IPAFF systems not directly controlled by the department.

Home Office

Asylum: Children

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a single co-ordinated unit involving (a) the National Crime Agency, (b) Border Force, (c) the South East regional organised crime unit and (d) local police forces to help tackle gang networks operating around hotels housing unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve the National Crime Agency's ability to tackle criminal gangs operating around hotels housing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing an inquiry team to investigate the potential links between (a) organised crime, (b) trafficking and (c) unaccompanied asylum-seeking children housed in hotels.

Robert Jenrick: The NCA does not investigate missing people. The wellbeing of children in the care of the Home Office is an absolute priority. Robust safeguarding and welfare procedures are in place to ensure that all children are safe and supported. The NCA undertakes investigations into complex and serious Organised Immigration Crime offences, arresting offenders in the UK and overseas and bringing them to justice. The NCA also has intelligence and investigative teams that are deployed across the full range of Serious and Organised Crime threats, where tackling Organised Immigration Crime is a priority. The NPCC and Home Office are focused on the missing child asylum seekers. The Home Office is working closely with policing and local authorities.

Asylum: Children

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to reduce the use of hotels to house unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of moving unaccompanied children from hotels and placing them in alternative safe accommodation.

Robert Jenrick: The rise in dangerous small boats crossings means there are significant challenges providing local authority care places for unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC). Out of necessity, and with the best interests of the child in mind, we have had no alternative but to temporarily use hotels to give some unaccompanied children a roof over their heads whilst local authority accommodation is found. The safety and wellbeing of those in our care is our primary concern. Robust safeguarding and welfare procedures are in place at all temporary hotels to ensure all children and minors are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.We are clear that we must end the use of hotels as soon as possible. The National Transfer scheme (NTS) has seen 3,148 children transferred to local authorities with children’s services between 1 July 2021 and 30 September 2022. This compares to 739 children transferred in the same time period in the previous year.We are providing local authorities with children’s services with £15,000 for every eligible young person they take into their care from a dedicated UASC hotel, or the Reception and Safe Care Service in Kent, by the end of February 2023.

Asylum: Children

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has taken steps to set up a dedicated team to investigate potential links between (a) organised crime, (b) trafficking and (c) children going missing from Home Office-run bridging hotels for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

Robert Jenrick: The wellbeing, welfare and security of children and minors in our care is an absolute priority. Robust safeguarding and welfare procedures are in place to ensure all children and minors are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with local authorities.We continue to consult multi-agency partners and subject matter experts to ensure our processes and procedures are robust and evolve as new trends or risks emerge. Whenever any child fails to return to a hotel, local police forces are engaged in ongoing activity and this data is shared across the police national computer base.

Asylum: Children

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to require Ofsted to regularly inspect hotels housing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Children’s Commissioner has duties in connection with the running of hotels housing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

Robert Jenrick: The safety and wellbeing of those in our care is our primary concern. There are no plans to require Ofsted to regularly inspect hotels. The best solution is for young people to be housed in local authority care and we are working closely to increase the supply of placements. The National Transfer scheme (NTS) has seen 3,148 children transferred to local authorities with children’s services between 1 July 2021 and 30 September 2022. This compares to 739 children transferred in the same time period in the previous year. We are going further by providing local authorities with children’s services with £15,000 for every eligible young person they take into their care from a dedicated UASC hotel, or the Reception and Safe Care Service in Kent, by the end of February 2023. The Children’s Commissioner (CC) does not have any specific duties with UASC accommodation. However, in order to carry out her primary function of promoting and protecting the rights of children in England, she does have statutory power to enter premises to conduct interviews or observe standards. The CC has visited accommodation on a number of occasions and provided recommendations following her visits.

Asylum: Children

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of resources for the National Crime Agency to investigate the pattern of children going missing from Home Office-run bridging hotels for unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

Robert Jenrick: The NCA does not investigate missing people. The wellbeing of children in the care of the Home Office is an absolute priority. Robust safeguarding and welfare procedures are in place to ensure that all children are safe and supported. The NCA undertakes investigations into complex and serious Organised Immigration Crime offences, arresting offenders in the UK and overseas and bringing them to justice. The NCA also has intelligence and investigative teams that are deployed across the full range of Serious and Organised Crime threats, where tackling Organised Immigration Crime is a priority. The NPCC and Home Office are focused on the missing child asylum seekers. The Home Office is working closely with policing and local authorities.

Asylum: Children

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) unaccompanied and (b) accompanied asylum seeking children were detained in 2022.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office do not hold the requested figures; figures on the overall numbers of children detained are published regularly.Figures can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1118246/detention-summary-sep-2022-tables.ods.

Afghanistan: Hazara

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees from the Hazara community in Afghanistan have been granted asylum in the United Kingdom since August 2021.

Robert Jenrick: he Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on initial decisions on asylum applications by nationality can be found in table Asy_D02 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2022. Data for the year ending December 2022 will be published on 23 February 2023. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.The Home Office does not publish initial decisions on asylum applications by ethnicity, as ethnicity is not routinely collected as part of an asylum application in a way that is reportable.

British National (Overseas): Safety

Dr Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people from Hong Kong in the UK who hold British National (Overseas) status following the reports of alleged secret police stations in the UK.

Tom Tugendhat: The UK has taken firm action following restrictions on the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously. Home Office officials work closely with other departments including the FCDO and DLUHC in ensuring that the UK is a safe and welcoming place for both those who hold BN(O) status and other Hongkongers.Attempts by foreign Governments to coerce, intimidate, harass or harm their critics overseas, undermining democracy and the rule of law, are unacceptable.I made a statement on the issue of transnational repression to the House on 1 November. As I said to the House, reports of undeclared ‘police stations’ in the UK are of course very concerning and are taken extremely seriously. Any foreign country operating on UK soil must abide by UK law. This Government is committed to tackling this challenge wherever it originates. An internal review into transnational repression is underway and the House will be updated on progress in due course.More broadly, I am driving forward work to protect the democratic integrity of the UK, including from threats of foreign interference, through the Defending Democracy Taskforce.

British National (Overseas): Safety

Dr Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people from Hong Kong in the UK who hold British National (Overseas) status following the alleged assault on Bob Chan at the Chinese consulate in Manchester in October 2022.

Tom Tugendhat: The UK has taken firm action following restrictions on the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously. Home Office officials work closely with other departments including the FCDO and DLUHC in ensuring that the UK is a safe and welcoming place for both those who hold BN(O) status and other Hongkongers.Attempts by foreign Governments to coerce, intimidate, harass or harm their critics overseas, undermining democracy and the rule of law, are unacceptable.The Home Office is driving forward work to protect the democratic integrity of the UK, including from threats of foreign interference, through the Defending Democracy Taskforce.

Computer Misuse Act 1990

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department will publish its response to the call for information on the effectiveness of the Computer Misuse Act 1990, which closed in August 2021.

Tom Tugendhat: The Computer Misuse Act 1990 is the main legislation relating to cybercrime, and it is essential that we ensure that it continues to be effective. We are still considering the proposals put forward to the Call for Information, and we will inform Parliament shortly of the way forward on the review of the Computer Misuse Act.

Animal Breeding: Animal Experiments

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her Department's policy to ban the commercial breeding of animals for use in animal testing; whether she is taking steps to reduce the use of animals in animal testing; and what policies her Department has in place to help ensure the protection and welfare of animals that are commercially bred to be used in animal testing.

Tom Tugendhat: This Government is committed to the protection and welfare of animals and ensuring that animals are only ever used in science where there are no alternatives.The Government’s position on commercially breeding animals for use in scientific procedures to deliver benefits, protecting animals and promoting alternatives, were set out in the recent Westminster Hall Debate on Commercial Breeding for Laboratories, on 16 January 2023.The Hansard record can be found here: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2023-01-16/debates/CE7E0DD2-CD4E-4C47-A58D-983D6E2BC128/CommercialBreedingForLaboratories.

Home Shopping: Fraud

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to raise awareness of online internet shopping scams.

Tom Tugendhat: Tackling fraud requires a unified and co-ordinated response from government, law enforcement and the private sector to better protect the public and businesses from fraud, reduce the impact of fraud on victims, and increase the disruption and prosecution of fraudsters.We will publish a strategy setting out how we will do this shortly. Raising awareness and safeguarding victims will form a key part of the Government's forthcoming fraud strategy. The strategy will outline how we will raise public awareness and safeguard victims through a number of actions including the provision of clear and consistent protect advice.We are also working on a number of proactive actions to prevent fraud, including online shopping scams. Fraud has been brought into scope of the Online Safety Bill to make tech firms responsible for protecting their customers from fraud. DCMS is also leading work on the Online Advertising Programme, which is considering further regulation of online advertising and examining all harms related to online advertising, including fraud.We are intending to launch a tech sector charter that will examine more ways Government and industry can collaborate and put in place further innovative solutions to protect the public from losing their hard-earned money.

Home Office: ICT

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish her Department's guidance on Ministers' use of personal (a) devices, (b) emails or (c) communication apps for official business.

Tom Tugendhat: The Cabinet Office has published guidance to departments on the use of private email that covers how information is held for the purposes of access to information, and how formal decisions are recorded for the official record.It is Government policy not to comment on individual Ministers’ security arrangements. Ministers receive support and expert advice to help them meet their obligations in the most appropriate and secure fashion. That includes regular security briefings for Ministers, and advice on protecting their personal data and mitigating cyber threats.

Asylum: Interviews

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum decisions were made without substantive asylum interviews in 2022.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many substantive asylum interviews were conducted in 2022; and how many of these were conducted by video conference.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office is unable to provide this information as it is not held in a reportable format, and therefore could only be obtained at disproportionate costs. Video technology has been successfully used to support remote interviewing for more than 3 years and has appropriate operating procedures that are designed to ensure participants are able to give the best account of their circumstances. We are also able to offer in person interviews for those seeking asylum if requested or required where additional needs are presented. The Home Office carefully considers all asylum claims on a case-by-case basis against published immigration rules, policy guidance and country information.

Asylum: Staff

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officials were responsible for (a) examining and (b) making decisions on asylum applications as of 31 December 2022.

Robert Jenrick: Caseworking staff are defined as all staff responsible for interviewing and deciding asylum operations claims. The number of asylum caseworkers involved in making decisions on asylum applications as of 31 December 2022 was 1277.The total number of officials, beyond caseworking staff, responsible for examining asylum applications is greater. This figure could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Asylum: Children

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has set up a cross-departmental ministerial taskforce with the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on safeguarding unaccompanied  asylum seeking children housed in Home Office-run hotels.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office and DfE have established a UASC Taskforce which was convened in November 2022 and meets regularly. This multiagency taskforce includes representatives from the Home Office, DfE, DLUHC, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) and the Local Government Association (LGA) to consider strategic and tactical solutions to the management of UASC. It is co-chaired by DfE Permanent Secretary, Susan Acland-Hood and Home Office Second Permanent Secretary, Patricia Hayes.

Visas: Standards

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department will introduce a target for processing applications to extend a stay in the UK using a FLR(FP) form.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office is reviewing service standards in relation to extending a stay in the UK using a FLR(FP) form.

Asylum: Children

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will take steps to publish regular data on (a) the length of time unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have been missing, (b) whether they are still missing and (c) when they went missing.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office has no plans to publish this data at this time. Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, as well as quality and availability of data.

Biometric Residence Permits: Applications

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the nature of the IT issue reported in 2023 which led to delays to Biometric Residence Permit applications.

Robert Jenrick: The error was linked to the repeated capture of biometric information earlier in the process, but corrective action has now been taken.As part of transforming the asylum system, we are focused on streamlining, simplifying and digitalising processes to ensure system issues do not occur in the future.

Members: Correspondence

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to respond to the correspondence of 21 December 2022 sent to the urgent queries inbox from the hon. Member for Liverpool Walton on Sultan Yousseff Al Khaldi.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office responded on 12 January 2023.

Undocumented Migrants: English Channel

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people crossing the English Channel in small boats were found to be children in each of the last three years.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes statistics on small boat arrivals to the UK in the ‘Irregular Migration to the UK statistics’ report. Data on small boat arrivals by age are published in table Irr_02c of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK data tables’ with the latest data up to the end of September 2022.Data up to the end of December 2022 will be published on 23 February 2023. Future irregular migration publication release dates can be found on the research and statistics calendar.

Asylum

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number of people who have had an asylum application refused and are still in the UK.

Robert Jenrick: Information regarding the number of failed asylum seekers still living in the UK can be found on tables ASY03 and RCM02 of the most recently published immigration and protection transparency data:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-and-protection-data-q3-2022.

Refugees: Syria

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of Syrian refugees in the UK.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes data on asylum and resettlement in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on grants of refugee status and resettlement for Syrian nationals can be found in table Asy_D02 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relate to the year ending September 2022. Data for the year ending December 2022 will be published on 23 February 2023. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.The Home Office does not hold information on the number of people resettled or granted refugee status who are still living in the UK, or their location within the UK. This is because the Home Office does not track the addresses of those resettled or granted refugee status, and refugees are free to move around the UK or leave.

Erasmus+ Programme

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Erasmus work experience programme remains on the list of authorised schemes for the Government Authorised Exchange Visa; and whether the British Council remains the overarching body responsible for sponsoring visas.

Robert Jenrick: Within the Immigration Rules, Appendix Government Authorised Exchange schemes provides the full list of approved schemes. The Erasmus scheme remains on the list of authorised schemes, with British Council listed as the overarching sponsor. Appendix Government Authorised Exchange schemes can be found below:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-government-authorised-exchange-schemes.

Undocumented Migrants: Albania

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make a comparative estimate of the number of Albanian nationals who (a) crossed the Channel in a small boat and (b) were involved in serious organised crime in each month in each of the last three years.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes statistics on small boat arrivals to the UK in the 'Irregular Migration to the UK statistics' report. Data on small boat arrivals by year for the top 20 nationalities in the latest year (January to September 2022) are published in table Irr_02b of the 'Irregular migration to the UK data tables' with the latest data up to the end of September 2022.Data up to the end of December 2022 will be published on 23 February 2023. Future irregular migration publication release dates can be found on the research and statistics calendar.There are no published statistics on nationalities involved in serious organised crime.

Human Trafficking

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that first responder organisations have adequate resources to support victims of trafficking; and whether her Department has a process in place for specialist organisations to apply to become first responders.

Chris Philp: The Home Office launched an e-learning package for First Responders in 2020. This consists of two modules, one on indicators of modern slavery and how to make a referral into the NRM (published summer 2020) and a second (published in June 2021) which focuses on the vulnerabilities of child victims. The training modules can be found here: Home Office First Responder Training (policingslavery.co.uk) The Home Office continues to work with stakeholders to review the role of First Responders. This includes options for how non-statutory organisations can apply to be a First Responder Organisation.

Fire and Rescue Services: Equality

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of (a) ethnic, (b) gender and (c) religious diversity in the fire service.

Chris Philp: Assessments of diversity in fire and rescue services are made through independent inspection by HMICFRS and publishing annual workforce diversity data including on new joiners for transparency and accountability.Action is being taken through funding the National Fire Chiefs Council’s People Programme. Proposals for further work in this area are outlined within the Government’s Fire Reform White Paper, published last year, with a focus on ensuring an ethical culture that attracts and retains talented people.

Drugs: Social Media

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken with (a) law enforcement agencies and (b) internet service providers to remove social media posts that (i) sell and market drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and (ii) commit other offences in the last (A) 12 months and (B) five years.

Chris Philp: Drugs devastate lives, ruin families and damage communities. As part of our 10-year Drugs Strategy, the Government is committed to driving down drugs supply in the UK, including through tough law enforcement against the sale of drugs online. Law enforcement agencies work with internet service providers to shut down UK-based websites found to be selling drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and committing other offences.Further measures to tackle the sale of controlled drugs and other offences are included in the Online Safety Bill, which was introduced on 17 March 2022, and is currently undergoing passage through Parliament. Under this legislation tech companies will need to remove and limit the spread of illegal content online. This means less illegal content online and when it does appear it will be removed quicker. Illegal content covered will include terrorist material, child sexual exploitation and abuse material, hate crime, fraud and the sale of illegal drugs or weapons.The Government has invested in specialist investigation teams at regional and national level to provide the relevant knowledge, skills and capabilities for enforcement online. This includes a number of harm-specific units that refer illegal content to social media companies so it can be taken down, in accordance with platforms’ terms and conditions.

Crime Prevention: Finance

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of (a) multi-agency partnerships and (b) government-funded programmes on reducing serious violence.

Chris Philp: The Home Office's primary means of investing in multi-agency partnerships to reduce serious violence since 2019 has been the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) programme.Since 2019, the Home Office has invested up to £170m into the development of now 20 (18 until 2022/23) VRUs in the areas worst affected by serious violence in England and Wales. VRUs bring together local partners to understand the drivers of serious violence in their area and in response they deliver a range of early intervention and prevention programmes to divert young people away from a life of crime.The Home Office has also invested up to £170m since 2019 into the 'Grip' (formerly Surge) hotspot policing programme, which uses data to identify the top violence hotspots and target police activity in those areas. This work is complemented by 'problem-solving' policing interventions aimed at tackling the long-term causes of serious violence affecting specific locations.An independent evaluator (Ecorys / Ipsos MORI) has carried out yearly evaluations to assess both the impact that the combination of VRU and Grip funding has had, as well as how successfully the VRU model has been implemented. The findings of this evaluation have been published, and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/violence-reduction-units-year-ending-march-2022-evaluation-report/violence-reduction-units-year-ending-march-2022-evaluation-report.

Nitrous Oxide: Misuse

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consideration she has given to using the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 to ban the misuse of nitrous oxide.

Chris Philp: On 3 September 2021, the Government asked the independent statutory advisory body, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), to provide an updated assessment of the harms of nitrous oxide, including advice on whether it should be controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The ACMD is independent of Government and can provide a broad range of recommendations, including advice on regulatory or legislative changes. The Government will consider the ACMD advice carefully along with any other evidence, including that relating to any potential legislative or regulatory options beyond control under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, as appropriate, before deciding how to proceed.

Drugs: Blackpool

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of project ADDER in combating drug crime in Blackpool.

Chris Philp: Through Project ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery) we are trail-blazing a whole-system response to combatting drug misuse in 13 hardest hit areas across England and Wales.Project ADDER is underpinned by a robust monitoring and evaluation framework. Our internal monitoring shows positive early signs. Between January 2021 and September 2022 across all sites, Project ADDER boosted activity and supported: over 1,600 Organised Crime Gangs disruptions; £7m in cash seized; nearly 20,500 arrests; over 12,400 Out of Court Disposals offered; and over 28,500 drug treatment interventions.Partner feedback in Blackpool is positive with increased partnership working between the police, Local Authority and service providers to address drug related crime and support people into treatment and wider services.The Home Office have also commissioned Kantar Public to undertake an independent evaluation of Project ADDER, and this is due to report in late 2023. The evaluation will look at how Project ADDER has been implemented across all Project ADDER sites and the overall impact of the programme in meeting the aims and objectives to reduce drug use, drug-related offending and drug-related deaths.

Nitrous Oxide: West Midlands

Saqib Bhatti: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the level of misuse of nitrous oxide in the West Midlands.

Chris Philp: The most reliable current source for prevalence of drug misuse is the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW). The Office for National Statistics publishes CSEW estimates for use of illicit drugs and psychoactive substances, including nitrous oxide, by adults aged 16-59. However, there are no available regional estimates for nitrous oxide due to small survey samples.The latest estimates for drug misuse are for the year ending June 2022 available at:Drug misuse in England and Wales - Appendix table - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).Data on school age drug misuse, primarily 11-15 year olds, is collected by NHS Digital and the latest data are available at:Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England, 2021 - NDRS (digital.nhs.uk).

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Andy Carter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Office, what guidance her Department issues on fire safety in high-rise residential buildings; and whether that guidance includes instructions for residents of such buildings on action to take in the event of a fire.

Chris Philp: The Home Office, as the Department responsible for fire safety, publishes a suite of guides to help Responsible Persons (RPs) understand and meet their legal duties under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO), and regulations made under Article 24 of the FSO, in specific types of premises including high rise purpose-built blocks of flats. This includes guidance on how to meet their legal duties in relation to providing instructions for residents on what action to take in the event of a fire.The Home Office has also issued guidance on the new legal duties RPs have to ensure residents are aware of the steps they are required to take in the event of a fire as part of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 that came into force on 23 January 2023.

Home Office: Contracts

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the total (a) value and (b) number of grants and funding awarded via competitive bidding processes by her Department in each of the last four years; and how many competitive bidding applications have been received by her Department in each of the last four years.

Chris Philp: 19/2020/2121/2222/23 (to date)Competed Grant Schemes39324339Total Value£103,795,959.94£124,252,424.08£144,852,941.85£95,967,218.56 I can confirm that the Home Office holds information relating to the number of competitive bidding applications received in each of the last four years. However, this information can only be obtained at disproportionate costs to the Home Office.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2023 to Question 133692 on Grenfell Tower: Fires, whether (a) she or (b) her officials have held discussions with the London Fire Commissioner on establishing a compensation fund for firefighters who attended the Grenfell fire and have subsequently been diagnosed with Cancer.

Chris Philp: The health and safety of firefighters is of great importance, with responsibility for their health and wellbeing ultimately resting with fire and rescue services as employers.The Home Office will consider the recently published studies to understand their conclusions.The Home Office provides significant grant funding to the National Fire Chiefs Council programmes including work that specifically focuses on the health and wellbeing of firefighters.

Metropolitan Police: Termination of Employment

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Metropolitan Police Service recruits (a) failed to complete their training and (b) resigned in each of the last three years.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Metropolitan Police Service recruits were dismissed before completing their training in each of the last three years.

Chris Philp: The Home Office does not hold information centrally on the number of recruits who failed to complete their training or were dismissed before they completed their training.The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officers leaving the police service in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin. This includes the reason for leaving, such as voluntarily resignation or dismissal. Information on the number of police officer leavers, by leaver type, in each of the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, between the years ending March 2007 to 2022 can be found in the Leavers Open Data Table.

Drugs: Internet

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK-based websites have been closed down by (a) a law enforcement agency and (b) an internet service provider for (i) selling and (ii) marketing drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in each of the last five years.

Chris Philp: Drugs devastate lives, ruin families and damage communities. As part of our 10-year Drugs Strategy, the Government is committed to driving down drugs supply in the UK, including through tough law enforcement against the sale of drugs online.Law enforcement agencies work routinely with internet service providers to shut down UK-based websites found to be selling drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, however, data on the number of websites closed down is not collected.

Fire and Rescue Services: Finance

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much were fire and rescue service budgets in each year since 2015 broken down by (a) local authority, (b) region and (c) nation for which data is available.

Chris Philp: Fire and Rescue is a devolved matter, and therefore the response to this PQ relates to England only. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is responsible for publishing the Final Local Government Finance Settlement. This is the annual determination of funding to local government (including fire), which is approved by the House of Commons. The settlement includes the Core Spending Power for each local authority. Separately, DLUHC on an annual basis publish local authority revenue expenditure data. The latest finance settlement and expenditure data can be found in the links below:Final local government finance settlement: England, 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).Local authority revenue expenditure and financing England: 2021 to 2022 individual local authority data - outturn - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Police: Monitoring

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has held with chief police officers on lawful business monitoring within police forces to help improve the internal operating culture of those forces.

Chris Philp: The Home Secretary has been clear that standards and culture in policing must improve. In the wake of the horrific murder of Sarah Everard, the Home Secretary commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect forces’ vetting and counter-corruption arrangements. Their report on vetting, misconduct and misogyny was published in November last year and found that, whilst most forces have the capability to use IT monitoring to gather corruption intelligence, there was little evidence of it being used to proactively identify corruption-related intelligence HMICFRS issued a recommendation that, by 31 March 2023, all Chief Constables should ensure that their forces are able to monitor all use of its IT systems and that forces use this to enhance investigative and proactive intelligence gathering capabilities. The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has committed to implementing all of the inspectorate’s recommendations. The Home Secretary has recently asked the inspectorate to conduct a rapid review of forces’ responses to recommendations from that report.

Members: Correspondence

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the email correspondence from the hon. Member for Glasgow East of (a) 18 November 2022, (b) 19 December 2022 and (c) 9 January 2023, reference DL13986.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office replied on 13  February 2023.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Ukraine: Refugees

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much of the grant to local authorities under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme will be reported as ODA; and how he plans to (a) itemise and (b) report to the OECD ODA-eligible spending.

Rachel Maclean: The Homes for Ukraine tariff is paid quarterly. ODA eligibility is calculated against projected spend.

Right to Buy Scheme

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the timetable is for the extension of the Right to Buy scheme.

Rachel Maclean: The Government remains committed to the Right to Buy, which since 1980 has enabled over two million social housing tenants to become homeowners.Any future announcements will be set out in the usual way.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Energy: Meters

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure energy firms exhaust all other options before forcibly installing prepayment metres in homes.

Graham Stuart: The Department is working with Ofgem to ensure that they take a more robust approach to the protection of vulnerable customers, and make sure energy suppliers are complying with the rules. Ofgem has now asked suppliers to pause the installation of prepayment meters under warrant until they have assured Ofgem they are compliant with all relevant regulations and obligations. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has asked domestic energy suppliers to report back on the steps they have planned to identify customers who may have had a prepayment meter installed inappropriately, and confirm that appropriate action will be taken in these instances.

Energy: Meters

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the rules governing the forcible installation of prepayment metres in homes by energy companies.

Graham Stuart: Ofgem has stringent rules on force-fitting prepayment meters on customers. Suppliers are required to follow specific processes before switching a customer to a prepayment meter. As part of efforts to increase greater transparency around prepayment meters, the Government has announced a five-point plan, calling on suppliers to stop voluntarily the practice of force-fitting prepayment meters on customers and make greater effort to help the most vulnerable, such as offers of additional credit and debt forgiveness.

Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the answer of 23 November 2022 to Question 86656 on Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme, what progress his Department has made on the Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme.

Graham Stuart: The Department is processing information provided to the department through the Request for Information process that ran over the summer for which there was significant interest. The Government will set out the next steps on the Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme soon.

Energy: Meters

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure people on pre-payment metres are receiving assistance with their energy bills.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) is providing support to households with a direct relationship to an energy supplier. Smart prepayment meter customers are credited directly each month by their supplier. Customers with traditional prepayment meters are receiving the discount via vouchers or Special Action Messages from their supplier which they need to redeem at a Post Office or PayPoint as directed.Further assistance is available to all households depending on eligibility, including via the Warm Home Discount and Winter Fuel Payment.

Energy: Meters

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many and what proportion of people with prepayment meters who are eligible for support for their energy costs have taken up that support in the latest period for which data is available.

Graham Stuart: In the first 3 months of the Energy Bills Support Scheme, energy suppliers in Great Britain issued a total of 6,020,560 vouchers to customers with traditional prepayment meters, of which 4,261,940 (71%) had been redeemed by the end December - an increase from 66% in the previous month. 6,292,140 smart prepayment credits have also been applied automatically, via a remote credit to the meter. Data relating to the Energy Bills Support Scheme GB can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-support-scheme-payments-made-by-electricity-suppliers-to-customers.

Natural Gas: Hydrogen

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when he plans to take a decision on whether to allow blending of up to 20 per cent hydrogen by volume in gas distribution networks.

Graham Stuart: The Government is aiming to reach a policy decision in 2023 on whether to allow blending of up to 20% hydrogen by volume into the gas distribution networks. This could generate carbon-savings of up to 6-7% on current grid gas consumption in Great Britain.  We are building the necessary evidence base to determine whether blending meets the required safety standards, is feasible and represents value for money.

Childcare: Energy

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) nurseries and (b) childcare providers with the rising cost of energy bills.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses, including nurseries and childcare providers, who receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected from high energy costs over the winter period. Following an HMT-led review into the EBRS, the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme will run from April until March 2024 and continue to provide a discount to all eligible non-domestic customers, including nurseries and childcare providers.

Energy: Price Caps

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on the adequacy of the (a) Earnings Before Interest and Tax and (b) Headroom allowances used by Ofgem when calculating the Energy Price Cap.

Graham Stuart: Ministers and officials regularly meet with stakeholders on matters related to the energy retail market. The setting of the energy price cap is a matter for the independent regulator Ofgem.Ofgem consults extensively on its methodology for determining the cap level, and recently published a Programme of Work for reviewing elements of the cap which is publicly available online at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/price-cap-programme-work.The Government has confidence in Ofgem, as the expert independent regulator, to set the cap at a level that reflects the underlying efficient costs of supplying energy.

Energy: Meters

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent utility companies from forcibly entering residential properties to install prepayment meters.

Graham Stuart: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced a five-point plan to tackle concerning behaviour by energy suppliers, including a call for suppliers to stop voluntarily, forced prepayment switching. Following recent findings by the Times, Ofgem have asked suppliers to pause the installation of prepayment meters under warrant until they have assured Ofgem that they are compliant with all relevant regulations and obligations. The Secretary of State has asked domestic energy suppliers what steps they are taking to identify consumers who may have had a prepayment meter installed inappropriately, and confirm that where such customers are identified, appropriate action will be taken.

Shell: Nigeria

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the potential impact of pollution produced by Shell in its crude oil production the Niger Delta on that region.

Graham Stuart: The Government regularly discusses with Shell the importance of action to address the risks of pollution from oil production in the Niger Delta. More generally we have supported initiatives to reduce the impact of oil and gas production in Nigeria. We have encouraged the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (“HYPREP”) to meet the needs of the communities affected by pollution specifically in Ogoniland. The UK has also supported the gas flare penalty regime in Nigeria and the use of satellites to identify fossil fuel facilities that emit methane at high rates. The UK Government is supporting Nigeria in meeting its ambitious climate change objectives set by its Nationally Determined Contributions and commitment to net-zero by 2060.

Energy: Meters

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a compensation scheme for households who have had prepayment meters forcibly installed in their homes.

Graham Stuart: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has written to domestic energy suppliers asking them to share what steps they are taking to identify consumers who may have had a Pre-payment meter installed inappropriately, and confirm that where such customers are identified, appropriate action will be taken. All domestic suppliers have been asked to pause the installation of pre-payment meters under warrant until they have assured Ofgem that they are compliant with all relevant regulations and obligations.

Cabinet Office

Government Consulting Hub: Operating Costs

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what were the (a) staffing costs and (b) other running costs for the Government Consulting Hub in financial years (i) 2019-20, (ii) 2020-21, (iii) 2021-22, and (iv) 2022-23 up to the end of January 2023.

Jeremy Quin: Total costs for the Government Consulting Hub were £5.535m, with the unit operating on a full cost recovery basis, charging fees to departments for work undertaken and an annual levy from each department from which the Playbook, knowledge exchange and capability programmes were delivered on their behalf. The estimated positive fee differential associated with Government Departments using GCH for consultancy rather than external suppliers was £4.3 million, a saving which accrued to the commissioning departments. In January 2023, in line with the objective to develop capability in-house within departments the Hub closed and is settling its finances. The Triage service has been transferred to the Crown Commercial Service. The Consultancy Playbook will be embedded into a suite of playbooks owned by the Commercial function. The GCH consultancy skills capability programme, supporting civil servants to adopt consultancy type skills where appropriate, has now onboarded to Civil Service Learning. By improving these skills across the public sector, we continue to ensure the Government is only using consultants when absolutely necessary, improving efficiency and saving taxpayers’ money. Staff costs (£)Other running costs (£)2019-20002020-2110,350.9860,176.502021-222,127,106.41192,448.702022-23 (forecast)2,852,039.33293,124.19

Productivity

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the comparative level of productivity between the UK and EU countries.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the comparative level of productivity between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of regional productivity rates in England.

Jeremy Quin: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 3 February is attached. UKSA Response (pdf, 370.1KB)

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Staff

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, in which countries does her Department employ staff based in UK (a) embassies (b) consulates.

Nigel Huddleston: As of 31 January 2023, this department employed UK-based staff in UK embassies in the following countries: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Chile, China, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Mexico, Morocco, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Myanmar. UK-based staff in UK consulates in the following countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United States, Vietnam.

Department for International Trade: Written Questions

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when she will provide a full response to Question 118845 tabled on 9 January 2023 by the hon. Member for Bristol East.

Nigel Huddleston: I refer the hon. Member for Bristol East to the answer I gave her today, UIN 118845.

Foreign Investment in Uk

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the US Inflation Reduction Act on the level of investment in UK industry.

Nigel Huddleston: We are engaging closely with the US administration to address our serious concerns about the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as talking to our friends and allies across the world who are similarly affected, we will continue to robustly defend the interests of UK industry.During the Secretary of State's visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, the Inflation Reduction Act was atop of her agenda. She held meetings with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai to reaffirm her concerns about the legislation and a potential global subsidies race, as well as EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, where she continued to push for both sides to work together and with other international partners on our response to the Inflation Reduction Act.

Russia: Sanctions

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether Paul Smith Limited has been granted an exception or licence to sell luxury fashion items in Russia.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether Agent Provocateur has been granted an exception or licence to sell luxury fashion items in Russia.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether Rolls-Royce has been granted an exception or licence to sell luxury cars in Russia.

Nigel Huddleston: Between 14 April 2022 and 30 September 2022, the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) has not issued licences by exception for the export of luxury fashion items or cars for these specific companies to Russia. This is the latest period published in the Official Export Control Statistics. Information on Russia Sanctions relating to luxury goods (as specified in Schedule 3A to the Regulations) can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/russia-sanctions-guidance/russia-sanctions-guidance The Government takes the enforcement of sanctions very seriously, and any UK person or company anywhere in the world that is selling or exporting sanctioned goods to Russia, directly or indirectly, may be in breach of sanctions law and potentially faces a heavy fine or imprisonment.

Department for International Trade: Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps their Department takes to comply with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992; and if they will make a statement.

Nigel Huddleston: There is a range of HR information which is published on GOV.UK and therefore publicly available:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sections-181-185-of-the-trade-union-and-labour-relations-consolidation-act-1992https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-international-tradeIn addition, the Department for International Trade, now the Department for Business and Trade, meets regularly with their recognised Trade Unions and presents and shares a range of information and data where it is appropriate and in line with privacy statements. This helps inform decision making through negotiation, engagement and consultation as appropriate.This department is therefore complying with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and we always seek to work constructively with trade unions.UK Export Finance (UKEF) have also provided a similar response to confirm that UKEF is therefore complying with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

Department for International Trade: Recruitment

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much her Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.

Nigel Huddleston: The total cost of support from external recruitment consultants for 2020, 2021 and 2022 was £648,408.47. This covers support for recruiting substantive civil servants at delegated grades and Senior Civil Servants (SCS) grades and Non-Executive Directors (NEDs), at the Department for International Trade and UK Export Finance.Recruitment consultant support is used when the department is looking to recruit for roles that require a specialised or senior skillset to ensure we maximise our reach, and to help attract external candidates.YearTotal Spend 20/21£183,480.0021/22£161,970.7022/23 year to date 31/01/23£302,957.77Total£648,408.47

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Gender

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that data collected by her (a) Department and (b) Department’s associated arms-length bodies records biological sex as opposed to gender identity.

Julia Lopez: In respect of employee data, DCMS collects both biological sex and gender identity data on our HR System. Our processing and handling of this data is set out in our HR privacy notice published on gov.uk. The Department does not have oversight of staff data collected by its ALBs.The Department also follows the Government Social Research and Government Statistical Service guidance and best practice on biological sex and gender identity as published on gov.uk.